Soil plpmg remains a relatively unexplored phenomenon despite its substantial impacts on watershed scale water and sediments transfer in numerous locations around the world. One of the main limits regarding the study of this singular process is characterization of the pipe networks (defining number, position, dimension and connectivity of pipes). In this context, non-invasive sub surface imaging using ground-penetrating radar (GPR) seems a promising technique. An exploratory methodology was developed to assess the ability of GPR to characterize pipe networks in Loess-derived soil. This methodology relies on (1) high spatial resolution scanning and (2) detection of electromagnetic sub-surface indicators of soil pipe (reflection hyperbolas and strongest reflections). For a 50 m x 50 m scanned zone, results show that combining these indicators can provide interesting clues about a potential pipe network.Three probably interconnected pipes were revealed. However, results show that the proposed methodology needs specific improvements in signal processing, object detection and system configuration in order to enhance and facilitate sub surface networks characterization.
Soil piping remains a relatively unexplored phenomenon despite its substantial impacts on water and sediment transfer at the watershed scale at numerous locations around the world. One of the main limitations regarding the study of this singular process is the characterization of the pipe networks (in terms of number, position, dimensions, and connectivity of pipes). In this context, noninvasive subsurface imaging using ground-penetrating radar (GPR) has proven to be a promising technique. This study used two three-dimensional (3D), high-resolution GPR surveys performed in loess-derived soils to characterize small pipe networks with little prior information about their location. The adopted methodology relies on high spatial resolution scanning, 3D subsurface imaging, and automated detection of reflection hyperbolas using a 200-MHz center-frequency antenna. Two small watersheds affected by piping were investigated at Sippenaeken and Kluisbergen (Belgium). Over the two scanned zones, results revealed significant subsurface continuous patterns. Even though the most obvious patterns corresponded to recent or past anthropic activities (e.g., artificial drainage pipes), validation tests confirmed that the chosen methodology can be used for pipe network characterization because some important continuity patterns were related to soil piping: for instance, a fairly small pipe (approximately 10-15 cm in diameter) was detected and validated for more than 100 m. Nevertheless, the high variability in size, depth, and orientation of the pipes imply that GPR may only be truly efficient when using very high spatial resolution scanning, which limits its application to specific conditions not always met in piped areas.
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